Raul Chavez, 2006 Upper Deck #534

Well, I'm back from my week-long self-imposed exile, though I did of course make an exception in posting Wednesday about Mike Flanagan's tragic and senseless death. This was a very eventful week to be away from the blog, for better and worse. The Birds honored the memory of their departed pitcher/coach/executive/broadcaster by adding a "Flanny" patch to their jersey sleeves, hanging a black banner with an orange "46" over the press box, putting together a tribute video to air in the first inning at all remaining 2011 home games, and of course requesting a moment of silence prior to Friday night's home game. The players also did him proud by rattling off a 6-game win streak, their longest since early 2008. That run of prosperity included their first-ever four game sweep in Minnesota and their second and third wins of the entire season against the Yankees. Suddenly, the sleepwalking O's were hitting (somewhat), pitching, and even flashing the leather. I felt superstition creeping in, and was loath to jinx the club by posting again. Now that the Orioles have dropped the nightcap of today's doubleheader, it's a moot point.

I also received my goodies from this month's cheapo eBay lot break courtesy of Thorzul. For $10 I secured all of the Orioles cards in a random assortment, which included a bunch of shiny Chrome O's from the past three years, some 1980s oddballs, my first Manny Machado card (to be shown off at a later date), and a card that I didn't know existed, which is pictured above. Raul Chavez played for 6 teams in 11 big league seasons, and only saw action with Baltimore in 16 games spread across April, May, and September in 2006. He had 5 whole hits in 28 at-bats, all singles with no RBI. But I'm thrilled to know that someone that minor in the grand scheme of team history has his own card in orange and black, and I'm even happier to own it. Last of all, as disgusted as I was a week ago, I'm encouraged to know that I spent several moments during the week thinking about tidbits that I would have liked to post on this blog. No matter what may come for the Orioles, I don't think I'm going anywhere.